Fiber handling method and apparatus



May l7, 1966 R. A. CADENHEAD FIBER HANDLING METHOD AND APPARATUS 4Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 6, 1965 IN VEN TOR. a 7. owls 40, BY 5.%

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May 17, 1966 R. A. CADENHEAD FIBER HANDLING METHOD AND APPARATUS 4Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 6, 1963 INVENTOR.

1966 R. A. CADENHEAD 3,251,095

FIBER HANDLING METHOD AND APPARATUS Filed May 6, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 4IN VENTOR. ay 7. mom/ 1990,

3,251 095 FIBER HANDLING METIIOD AND APPARATUS Roy A. Cadenhead, LaGrange, Ga., assignor to Callaway Mills Company, La Grange, Ga., acorporation of Georgia Filed May 6, 1963, Ser. No. 278,069 9 Claims.(Cl. 19-80) This invention relates to methods and apparatus for openingbales of cotton and the like. More specifically, this invention relatesto an improved method of and apparatus for the plucking and blending ofthe contents from such bales.

Cotton fibers normally are baled after they are removed from the cottonseeds by a ginning operation. In a typical installation, the fibers passfrom the gin in an air stream to a rotating condenser located above thebailing apparatus. The condenser separates the fibers from the airstream and allows them to drop downwardly into the charging box of thebailing press. The charging box is rectangular in horizontal crosssection and has a length substantially greater than its width. Tampingmeans usually are employed to compact successive layers of the fibersdeposited in the charging box.

After the desired amount of cotton has been placed in the charging box,the box is moved from beneath the chute leading from the condenser,. andhydraulic pressing equipment acting either from the top or the bottom ofthe box compresses the cotton to a vertical dimension substantially lessthan the length of the charging box. When the cotton is fullycompressed, bands are applied to completethe baling operation.

In a bale formed in this manner the cotton is disposed in a plurality oflayers or strata extending lengthwise of the bale. These layers, formedas a result of the tamping operation, have some strength and integritycharacteristics,-and in some respects they may be con:

sidered separate sheets of material. Moreover, the grade or quality ofthe cotton may vary from layer t layer within a bale.

When a bale of cotton reaches a textile mill, it is necessary to removethe cotton fibers for further proc essing. A conventional procedure isto remove the bands or ties from the bale and then strip off manuallyseveral layers of the fibers at a time for delivery to a bale breakerwhich serves to break up the layers to some extent and place the cottonin the form of small bunches of fibers.

This conventional procedure has two major disadvantages. On the onehand, the labor involved in manually transferring the layers of cottonfrom the bales to the bale breakers represents an unnecessary expense.On the other hand, the layer to layer variations in the grade or qualityof the cotton from a given bale persists to a substantial degree in theoutput from the bale breaking apparatus.

The labor problem attributable to the conventional procedure has beenrecognized heretofore, and some proposals have been advanced formechanically removing cotton fibers directly from cotton bales. However,ditficulties have been experienced particularly in connection with fiberdamage due to rough handling.

It is a general object of this invention to provide an improved methodand apparatus for opening bales of cotton without injuring the fibersand for blending the fibers from the several layers or strata of theindividual bales.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide apparatus forremoving cotton from a longitudinal or.

butt end of a bale insuch manner as to achieve a desirable blendingeffect.

' United States Patent It is another object of the invention to providebale plucking apparatus capable of being operated with a minimumexpenditure of power.

Yet another object of theinvention is to provide apparatus for gentlyplucking fibers from a bale without tearing or curling the fiberAccording to a preferred embodiment of my invention, I provide anapparatus for supporting a longitudinal or butt end of a cotton balewhereby certain of the bale layers are caused to sag relative to otherbale layers. These sagging, relatively free, layers are acted upon byplucker fingers of my inventive apparatus, which function to gentlypluck small tufts of cotton from the sagging layers. The plucker fingerscooperate with doffing and conveyor means to deliver these cotton tuftsfor subsequent treatment.

This preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a left side elevation of a bale plucker of the presentinvention;

.FIGURE 2 is a front elevation of the bale FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a right side elevation of the bale plucker of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a vertical longitudinal section taken along line 4-4 inFIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 5 is a diagrammatic view of the movement of cotton down throughan operating zone of the bale plucker of FIGURE 1.

Referring in more detail to FIGURE 1, the illustrated embodiment of theinvention comprises an elongated housing 1 having bale retaining slats 2and 3 (FIG. 2)

- and supporting legs 4. The housing 1 is adapted to receive in its openupper end a longitudinal or butt end 6 of a bale B having layers 8. Thebale is supported in said housing 1 by bale supports or liftersgenerally designated as 10-1, 10-2, 10-3, 10-4, and 10-5. Each balelifter 10-1, etc., is rotatably mounted on side members 12 of thehousing 1 by pillow blocks 14 connected thereto.

Asshown in FIGURE 3, a plurality of sprockets 16-1, 16-2, 16-3, 16-4,and 16-5 are mounted on end portions of the bale lifters 10-1, etc. Thesprockets 16-1, 16-3, and 16-4 are fixedly attached by set screws or thelike (not shown) to their respective bale lifters in driving relationthereto, but sprockets 16-2 and 16-5 are mounted on their respectivebale lifters for rotary movement relative thereto so as to functionmerely as idlers. A drive chain 18 is trained over the various sprockets16-1, etc., in a serpentine manner and is operatively connected to asprocket 20 which is fixedly mounted on a shaft 21 supported on thehousing 1 by pillow blocks 22.

The other end of the shaft 21 has fixed thereto a pulley 24 (FIGURE 1)which is connected by a belt 26 to a pulley 28 fixed on a shaft 30supported on the housing legs 4 by pillow blocks 32. Fixedly mounted onthe other end of shaft 30 is a drive pulley 34 which is connected by abelt 36 to a motor pulley 38 (FIGURE 2) operatively associated with amotor 40.

The ends of bale lifters 10-1, 10-2, 10-4, and 10-5 shown in FIGURE 1have sprockets 40-1, 40-2, 40-4, and 40-5 fixed thereto. It will benoted that bale lifter 10-3 has no such sprocket. Two drive chains 42drivingly connect'sprockets 40-1 to 40-2, and 40-4 to 40-5,respectively. In this manner, the bale lifter 10-1 is drivinglyconnected to the lifter 10-2, and the lifter 10-4 is connected to thelifter 10-5. Since the sprockets 16-2 and 16-5 are rotatably mounted onthe lifters 10-2 and 10-5, they function merely as idlers. When thedrive pulley is rotated ina clockwise direction, as shown in FIGURE 3,the illustrated driving arrangement causes Patented May 17, 1966vplucker of v the bale lifters -1, 10-2 and 10-3 to rotate in a clockwisedirection and the bale lifters 10-4 and 10-5 to rotate in acounterclockwise direction. This alternate rotation of the bale liftersis of significance in that it helps in keeping the bale B centered inthe housing 1 during the plucking operation.-

Mounted beneath the bale lifters 10-1, etc. are bale beaters orpluckers, generally designated as 50-1, 50-2, 50-3, 50-4 and 50-5. Thesepluckers are rotatably mounted on the side members 12 of the housing 1by pillow blocks 51. Fixedly mounted on one end of the bale pluckers50-1, etc. are sprockets 52-1, 52-2, 52-3, 52-4 and 52-5 which functionto drive the respective pluckers on which they are mounted. A chain 54is directed in a serpentine manner over sprocket 52-1, under sprocket52-2, over sprocket 52-3, under sprocket 52-4 and around sprocket 52-5.Also fixedly mounted on bale plucker 50-5 adjacent to sprocket 52-5 is asecond sprocket 56 connected by a chain 58 to a sprocket 60 mounted onthe drive shaft 21. When the drive pulley 34 is rotated in a clockwisedirection as shown in FIGURE 3, the bale pluckers'50-1, 50-3, and 50-5will rotate in a clockwise direction, while the bale pluckers 50-2 and50-4 will rotate in a counterclockwise direction.

The bale plucker drive chain 54 is also directed around a chain tensionadjustment sprocket 62. Sprocket 62 is fixedly mounted on shaft 64 whichis connected to the housing legs 4 by pillow blocks 66. Pillow blocks 66are adjustably mounted on the housing legs 4 by threaded bolt means tofacilitate adjustment of the chain tension.

Beneath the bale pluckers 50-1, etc. are doffer brushes generallydesignated as 70-1, 70-2, 70-3, 70-4, and 70-5. The doffer brushes 70-1,etc. are rotatably mounted on a side member 71 of the housing 1 bypillow blocks 72. Each doffer brush 70-1, etc. is provided with asprocket 72-1, 72-2, 72-3, 72-4 (not shown), and 72-5 on one end thereofand a drive chain 74 is directed in a serpentine manner about saidsprockets so that dofier brushes 70-1, 70-3, and 70-5,-as viewed inFIGURE 3, are caused to rotate in a counterclockwise direction whiledoffer brushes 70-2 and 70-4 are caused to rotate in a clockwisedirection. It will be seen that each doffer brush 70-1, etc. rotates ina direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the bale plucker50-1, etc. immediately above it. Chain 74 is directed about a chaintension adjustment sprocket 76 which is mounted on a bracket 77 forvertical adjustment.

To provide a drive for the various doffer brushes 7 0-1, etc. in theabove described manner, brush 7 0-4 is further provided with a sprocket78 (FIGURE 2) fixedly mounted thereon adjacent sprocket 72-4. A chain 80is directed about sprocket 78 and a sprocket 82 fixed on the shaft 30.

Referring to FIGURES l and 3, it will be seen that the bale B havinglayers 8 is supported by bale lifters 10-1, etc., so that the layers runvertically. It is assumed that, prior to the commencement of theplucking operation, all of the bale bands have been removed from thebale except those located at elevations not yet within the confines ofthe housing 1.

Referring to FIGURES 4 and 5 in detail, the bale lifters 10-1, etc. eachcomprise an elliptical portion 83 fixedly mounted on a shaft 84, saidportion 83 having reduced bale contact surfaces 85 and flat surfaces 86.The bale lifters function to support the bale B and the various layers 8thereof when the particular bale lifter 10-1, etc. is in the horizontalposition presenting the fiat surface 86 in contacting relationship withthe bale. However, upon rotation of the bale lifter so that reducedcontact surface 85 contacts the bale, the adjacent layers 8 of the baletend to separate and sag downwardly relative to the bale lifter underthe influence of the weight of the bale. It will be appreciated that themagnitude of such layer sagging is a function of the lifter contactsurface, the bale weight, the compressed state of the friction betweenthe layers, and the unsupported distance between lifters.

The elliptical portions 83 of the adjacent ones of the bale lifters10-1, etc. preferably are out of phase with each other. As shown in thedrawings for example, the bale lifter 10-1 is about 90 out of phase withthe bale lifter 10-2, so that a narrow contact surface of the balelifter 10-1 and a wide contact surface 86 of the bale lifter 10-2 faceupwardly at about the same time. As the elliptical portion 83 of onebale lifter 10-1 rotates to bring the long axis of the ellipse toward avertical position, the surface area available for contacting the bale isreduced and the layers 8 in the bale B tend to separate and slipdownwardly on opposite sides of the bale lifter 10-1. During the sametime period, the long axis of the elliptical portion 83 of the adjacentbale lifter 10-2 will be swinging from a vertical position toward ahorizontal position, so that the narrow face 85 thereof will be movingcloser to the axis of rotation of the bale lifter 10-1. As the face 85moves in this manner, it exerts a lateral pressing action on the layers8 of material from the bale to control the downward feeding action.Thus, it will be seen that rapidly rotating the bale lifters in thismanner causes an agitation or vibration of uniform amplitude of thelower surface of the bale and the sagging portion of the bale betweenthe adjacent bale lifters 10-1 and 10-2 swings laterally somewhat, assuggested in FIGURE 4.

Each of the bale pluckers 50-1, etc. includes an elliptical portion 88fixedly mounted on a shaft 89. The elliptical portion 88 is providedwith plucker teeth or fingers 90 that are inclined forwardly in thedirection of rotation of the bale plucker. As shown, the angle betweenthe axis of each finger 90 and a radial line extending from the axis ofrotation of the bale plucker on which it is mounted is about thirtydegrees. As the layers 80f the bale B sag due to rotation of balelifters 10-1, etc. into the path of a rotating plucker, fibers will beplucked therefrom by the plucker fingers 90. The inclination of theplucker fingers 90 so as to lead in the direction of rotation causessmall tufts of cotton to be plucked, rather than torn, from the endofthe bale with a minimum of curling or injury to the fibers. Since therelative size of each tuft is small, the efficiency of subsequently usedcleaning equipment is enhanced. Moreover, the power requirements for thebale opening operations are minimized by reason of the fact that thefibers are plucked from a sagging, relatively free, end portion of thebale rather than from a face thereof.

The tufts impaled upon the fingers 90 are carried away from the bale asthe bale pluckers rotate downwardly. The doffer brushes 70-1, etc.,which include bristles 92 removably attached thereto by bolts 93, act tosweep the tufts off the fingers 90 onto a power driven conveyor 94. Dueto the transmission arrangement, each doffer brush 70-1, etc. is rotatedat three times the speed of the particular plucker 50-1, etc.immediately thereabove. This increased brush speed assures effectiveremoval of the fibers and also serves to produce a fan effect.

It should be observed that the cotton falling onto the conveyor 94during any given time interval will be cotton taken from differentportions of the bale B. While the bale plucker 50-1 is removing fibersfrom a zone located near one face of the bale, the bale plucker 50-5 isremoving fibers from a zone located near the opposite face of the bale.These fibers taken from different zones are deposited together on theconveyor 94 to provide a desirable blending effect.

In a typical commercial installation, the conveyor 94 will extendbeneath a plurality of the bale plucking machines illustrated in thedrawings and it will receive cotton from a number of bales. Hence, thepresent invention makes it possible not only to obtain a blending actionwith respect to fibers taken from different layers of a single bale, butalso to obtain a blending action with respect to fibers from differentbales.

As a bale is partially fed through the plucker another bale may beplaced directly on top of the partially plucked first bale and theplucking operation maintained in a continuous manner. No interruption isrequired for introduction of a fresh bale to be plucked after a firstbale has been opened.

Although a single embodiment of the invention has been illustrated anddescribed in detail, various modifications and alterations will suggestthemselves to persons skilled in the art. It is intended therefore thatthe foregoing be considered as exemplary only and that the scope of theinvention be ascertained from the following claims.

I claim:

1. A bale plucker comprising an elongated housing adapted to receive andhold a bale with the longitudinal axis thereof in a vertical position, aplurality of elongated non-circular bale supporting and lifting meansrotatably mounted in said housing for rotation about their longitudinalaxes for supporting and lifting portions of the end of said bale, aplurality of plucker means rotatably mounted in said housing below saidbale supporting and lifting means for rotation about axes parallel tothe axes of said bale supporting and lifting means, and drive means forrotating said supporting and lifting means and said plucker meanswhereby the contents of said bale may be plucked from a longitudinal endthereof.

2. A bale plucker comprising an elongated housing adapted to receive andhold a bale .with the longitudinal axis thereof in a vertical position,a plurality of bale supporting and lifting means rotatably mounted insaid housing for rotation about longitudinal axes and adapted tocontact, support, and lift portions of the butt end of said bale, aplurality of bale plucker means rotatably mounted in said housingsubjacent said supporting and lifting means, each of said supporting andlifting means having its longitudinal axis in the same vertical plane asone of said bale plucker means, and drive means for rotating saidsupporting and lifting means and said plucker means.

3. A bale plucker comprising an elongated housing, a plurality ofelongated bale end supporting and lifting means each disposed parallelto each other and rotatably mounted in said housing and having anelliptical form in cross section, said plurality of supporting andlifting means being adapted to contact, support and lift portions of thebutt end of a bale, a plurality of bale plucker means each disposedalong parallel longitudinal axes and rotatably mounted in said housingsubjacent said plurality of supporting and lifting means, plurality ofsaid supporting and lifting means having their longitudinal axesdisposed parallel to the longitudinal axes of said plurality of pluckermeans, drive means operatively connected to said supporting means andlifting means and to said plucker means to rotate certain of saidplurality of supporting and lifting means in an opposite direction tothe remainder of said plurality and to rotate adjacent ones of saidplurality of plucker means in an opposite direction relative to eachother.

4. A bale plucker according to claim 3 having a plurality of rotatablymounted dolfer brush means rotatably mounted in said housing subjacentsaid plurality of plucker means, said drive means also functioning torotate adjacent ones of said plurality of said dofier brush means inopposite directions relative to each other whereby said doffer brushmeans doff fibers from said plucker means.

5. Apparatus for opening cotton bales of the type in which a pluralityof compacted layers of cotton extend lengthwise of the bale, saidapparatus comprising a frame, means on said frame forming a chamber forreceiving an end portion of a bale and holding the bale in an uprightposition, a plurality of spaced apart supports having elongated portionsof generally elliptic-a1 cross section extending across the bottom ofsaid chamber in a direction generally parallel to said layers in thebale and being mounted and extending generally parallel to saidsupports, each of said pluckers having two rows of teeth projecting from.the opposite sides thereof with the free ends of said teeth beinginclined forwardly in the direction of rotation of said pluckers,rotatable doffer means beneath said pluckers, a conveyor beneath saiddoffer means mounted for movement in a direction at right angles to theaxis of said pluckers, and means for driving said supports, saidpluckers, and said dolfer means.

6. Apparatus as defined in claim 5 wherein the elliptical portions ofadjacent ones of said supports are out of phase with each other.

7. A method of plucking cotton from a bale of compressed fibres whereinthe bale incidentally includes juxtaposed parallel layers comprising thesteps of positioning said bale with said layers disposed substantiallyvertically and in longitudinal planes, supporting said bale from thebottom thereof at a plurality of spaced port-ions parallel to saidlayers, agitating the bottom of said bale to dislodge and move bygravity elongated longitudinal bottom portions of said bale between thesupportedportions and plucking tufts of cotton from the dislodgedelongated longitudinal bottom portions with a movement generally normalto said dislodged elongated longitudinal bottom portions.

8. A method of plucking fibres from a bale of compressed fibres whereinthe bale incidentally includes juxtaposed parallel layers of fibrescomprising the steps of positioning said bale with said layers disposedin substantially vertical longitudinal planes, supporting spacedlongitudinal bottom portions of said bale, agitating said bale forcausing a longitudinal bottom portion of said bale between the supportedlongitudinal portions of said bale to sag beneath the plane of thesupported longitudinal portions, and thereafter engaging from below theplane of the supported longitudinal portions increments of thelongitudinal side of the sagged portion from a direction transversethereto for progressively plucking therefrom tufts of said fibres.

9. In a bale plucker of the type wherein a bale of fibres is supportedin a chamber by a plurality of spaced supports disposed in a horizontalplane parallel to each other and extending in a given direction andwherein means is provided for vibrating said bale, the combinationtherewith of a plurality of plucker means moved in rotary paths aboutaxes extending in said given direction and disposed parallel to andbelow said supports for respectively engaging from the sides of thoseportions of the bale which may sag between said supports for pluckingtherefrom tufts of fibres.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,040,387 6/1962Jee 19--81 3,101,513 8/1963 Wildbolz 1980 FOREIGN PATENTS 838,793 6/1960Great Britain. 121,365 4/1958 Russia.

DONALD W. PARKER, Primary Examiner.

D. NEWTON, Assistant Examiner.

1. A BALE PLUCKER COMPRISING AN ELONGATED HOUSING ADAPTED TO RECEIVE ANDHOLD A BALE WITH THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS THEREOF IN A VERTICAL POSITION, APLURALITY OF ELONGATED NON-CIRCULAR BALE SUPPORTING AND LIFTING MEANSROTATABLY MOUNTED IN SAID HOUSING FOR ROTATION ABOUT THEIR LONGITUDINALAXES FOR SUPPORTING AND LIFTING PORTIONS OF THE END OF SAID BALE, APLURALITY OF PLUCKER MEANS ROTATABLY MOUNTED IN SAID HOUSING BELOW SAIDBALE SUPPORTING AND LIFTING MEANS FOR ROTATION ABOUT AXES PARALLEL TOTHE AXES OF SAID BALE SUPPORTING AND LIFTING MEANS, AND DRIVE MEANS FORROTATING SAID SUPPORTING AND LIFTING MEANS AND SAID PLUCKER MEANSWHEREBY THE CONTENTS OF SAID BALE MAY BE PLUCKED FROM A LONGITUDINAL ENDTHEREOF.